London marathon Sunday 26 April 2026
On a beautiful spring day and in near-perfect racing conditions, 13 CLC Striders made their way up through the chill of early morning to Blackheath in south-east London to join the masses for the start of the biggest ever London marathon. Although there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the temperatures didn’t soar as high as they have done in recent years and, as the world witnessed, at the head of the field, two men went sub-two hours in an astonishing race, while the ladies’ world record fell again, too on a remarkable day of racing in the capital.
A little further back from the elites, there were some stand-out performances from CLC Striders club athletes who’d spent their winters preparing for this big day. First to finish for the club was Rob Barnett, who ran a perfect race throughout to register the 3rd fastest marathon in the club’s history, finishing in a superb PB time of 2:35:54, rewarding what has been a focussed training block and hundreds of hard miles in the cold and dark – and likely earning himself a Championship start for 2027. He was followed in by the ever-consistent Joe Willgoss, turning in a solid 2:42:23 for yet another marathon finish. Tom Fletcher became a TV star, as the BBC coverage picked up on his celebrations down The Mall as he finished – in typically flamboyant style – in his first sub-3-hour marathon in a PB time of 2:58:57.
Despite his recent training being hampered by illness, CLC Striders’ man in the north Richard Aarons clocked 3:14:09 and Jonathan Margetts, raising money for the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) battled through for 3:14:29. Kate Telford crossed the line in 3:25:13 and VF60 Nikki Smith ran a superbly judged, evenly-paced race to set a new club age category record of 3:38:35. Next home was the always-smiling Fiona Brady-Miller in a time of 3:46:54. Frank Rooke-Matthews finished in 4:09:59 and club newcomers Christian Anstee Deborah Cartlidge finished in 4:12:22 and 4:46:03 respectively. Not forgetting Arnie Delstanche (who has trained with the club throughout the winter and become quite a character in the local scene) who raced the marathon in a dinosaur costume, finishing in 4:23:41.
Story of the day belongs to Sophie Longmore, who went through the half marathon mark in 1:34:59, but then, without realising, lost her bib number and didn’t notice until mile 15. As race rules dictate, she was asked to step off the course, but explained her predicament and was allowed to complete it, but without getting a time. Someone did pick her bib up and crossed the finish line with it (in 4:25:52). But we’ve found Sophie on the finish line camera footage and calculated that she actually finished in 3:22:36.